Bears lose to Lions, 16-7

If you had asked tight end Desmond Clark at the beginning of the season if the Chicago Bears would start 3-5, he knows what he would have said.

Reed Schreck

If you had asked tight end Desmond Clark at the beginning of the season if the Chicago Bears would start 3-5, he knows what he would have said.

No," he said, "and feel 100 percent sure."

Yet that's where the Bears find themselves after Sunday's 16-7 loss to the 5-2 Detroit Lions. The Bears now enter their bye week with many wounds to lick.

Sunday's game was typical of what has plagued the team when it's been struggling. Neither the offense nor the defense could feel good about their performance, and the Blame Game would involve importing a truckload of mirrors.

There's a lot of reflecting to do, and time to do so now.

The Bears had hoped to go into their bye at .500 with momentum instead of puzzled looks and blank stares. They were no better against Lions quarterback Jon Kitna this time than they were Sept. 30 in Ford Field -- where the Lions piled on an NFL single-quarter record 34 points in the fourth quarter in beating Chicago 27-27.

Kitna was a steady 24-of-35, 268 yards, no mistakes and a 91.1 passer rating this time. The Bears' Brian Griese was not the same guy who rescued the team last week in Philadelphia or earlier at Green Bay. His 38.3 rating was deserved basically because of four interceptions, three coming in the end zone.

"This is very tough for us," he said. "We have to lay down and bleed for a while, then get up and work on the things we need to.

"The season is not lost. I'm willing to put in the hard work needed."

What is needed is improvement in the run and pass games offensively and defensively. That's all. The problems were apparent for the 59,791 fans at Soldier Field to see.

There were moments Sunday when hope also appeared. Robbie Gould lined up to give the Bears a 3-0 lead, but missed a 40-yard field goal. Charles Tillman and Danieal Manning were unable to pick off pickable passes in the first half, which ended with the Lions ahead 13-0.

Then Detroit had a chance to go up 16-0 early in the third quarter, only to have Jason Hanson yank a 29-yarder.

Devin Hester, as he's done so many times, gave Chicago a boost one possession later with a 39-yard punt return to the Detroit 26. Griese found rookie tight end Greg Olsen from 20 yards out three plays later to make it 13-7 with 5:26 left in the third quarter.

But Detroit responded with an 11-play march to add a 20-yard field goal for a 16-7 advantage, making it a two-score deficit for Chicago.

After that, Lions defenders became Griese's top targets in the red zone. He was intercepted on the day twice trying to hit Mark Bradley and Muhsin Muhammad once in the end zone. Griese also was intercepted on an out route on which he was hit as he released the ball.

"Brian was trying to make plays out there," Clark said. "More than anything, he was trying to make plays and get us back into the game."

The offense went stagnant in the red zone; the defense allowed Kitna to pick and choose receivers when Kevin Jones wasn't running for 105 yards on 23 carries.

"Overall, the effort was good," defensive coordinator Bob Babich said. "We just weren't as productive as we'd like to be."

Said guard Fred Miller: "Guys are having mental lapses or visible letdowns, and we're just not good enough to overcome that yet. We have to be perfect, and have all guys clicking for us to be successful."

"Perfect" is just about what the Bears will need to be the rest of the way.

Reed Schreck is the NFL writer for the Rockford Register Star. Contact him at 815-987-1381 or rschreck@rrstar.com.